The Baroness and I love our DVR. We don't know anyone who has a DVR and isn't emotionally tethered to its greatness. And now comes word that DVR should be in more than one-third of homes by 2012. But is the DVR just a bridge technology?
The same story tells us that VOD will be in more than 50% of homes by 2012. Cable companies love VOD because it's worth much more to them than the $5 per month they receive for DVR. VOD also means that cable companies can supply video on the back end (just when you choose that video) and don't need to worry about putting the large hard drives into cable boxes.
I have a couple of concerns with VOD: 1) As it's currently constituted, only a limited number of episodes for a given show are available at a time. That must change. If I am giving up my DVR, I want to retain control. 2) I don't want to have to watch ads or pay for the content, and with VOD, you have to pick your poison.
I get the sense that the DVR will be surpassed by VOD in terms of usage pretty soon, but that doesn't mean DVR will go away. And if I have to, I could always buy Tivo, assuming they're still in business. You can't underestimate how great it is to be able to pause live TV. I'm not giving that up without a fight.
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